A Long Time Coming
by Don't Call Me Short
Summary: SPOILERS FROM THE MANGA! Ed looks back on the events of the promised day and its aftermath while staring into the eyes of his beloved on this most special of days. My first fanfic ever. Hope you like it! Rated K just in case?


**My first fan fic! I've read a bunch and commented on a lot of them and I'm finally ready to publish one of my own! My inspiration (besides FMA) came from watching "Say Yes to the Dress"! Thanks to TrippyPixie for betaing my story (is that even a word?...dunno :-P)**

**I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist!!!! I love you ****あらかわせんせい ****(Arakawa sensei)****!!**

**Oh! And please comment! Praise and constructive criticism are welcome but please don't comment just to dis me in an unhelpful, rude manner. :-P  
**

**A Long Time Coming **

They had joked about it when they were little…maybe that was why this was still so unbelievable to him. A long time ago she had refused him and Al both, telling them that she didn't want to marry someone shorter than her. How ironic that he was now taller than her as well as the taller of the two brothers and would now be the one to make due on that old joke of theirs.

He stood there now, listening the judge babble on about binding them by law. Right now he only had eyes for his beautiful bride. It couldn't have been a better day; they were getting married in from of old Pinako's house and the sun was shining high in an endlessly blue sky. They had almost gotten married in Resembool's mess hall but the wedding group would never have fit. Neither he nor Winry had truly realized how many friends they had made over the years. Almost everyone from HQ was there, even the bastard and his wife (wow still weird to say that), Riza. There were people from Rush Valley, Central, Resembool, and even Xing there.

Al was his best man and his fiancé, Mei, was one of the bride's maids. Paninya was Winry's choice for maid of honor, much to Ed's dismay, though both he and Winry were happy with their choice of flower girl and ring bearer, Elysia and Den. They had both taken a step away from the traditional when they were both walked down the aisle together, hand in hand with Pinako. They figured that since both of them had no parents (Hohenheim had died in the battle) it would only be right since Pinako had acted as mother for both of them and it had to have been the first time he'd ever seen Pinako cry when she walked them down the aisle.

Suddenly Winry was looking at him intently and he knew he'd just missed the prompt from the judge to say, "I do." He cleared his throat and gave a nervous laugh after seeing Winry's eyes narrow and quickly said, "I do," his voice cracking. Soft laughs came from the audience and he couldn't help but smile and he was relieved when Winry did the same. He loved her smile, he'd seen her cry all to often for his liking and seeing her smile usually made his heart pound, but today it didn't; today it calmed his nerves and only made him smile wider.

They had both been through a lot. Winry had lost both of her parents very suddenly, had been kidnapped, and had been left in the dark for months at a time when Ed and Al disappeared on their search to get back their bodies and to stop Amestris from being destroyed. Ed knew how much it killed Winry inside to watch them disappear for months at a time and, when they did show up, to not get any information out of them. She knew now, after having had explained it all to her, why exactly she couldn't know anything about what was going on, lest the government decide to use her again. Despite that he knew how bad it had hurt her to receive a call three days after the "promised day" telling her that he and Al were in the hospital in critical, but stable condition.

The moment she came into the hospital room he could tell that she was determined not to cry as a part of their promise. She had actually greeted Al first since he had been in better shape than Ed. Al had, luckily managed to get his body back and was only in the hospital because of how weak he was. Ed was another story. In order to get Al's body back Ed had to give up the pursuit of getting his limbs back and it was for this reason that he had been wary of seeing Winry. She had walked in, said, "I figured," and then allowed Ed to explain what happened, everything that she had wanted to know in the years after he and Al first left Resembool. By the end of the explanation, both of them were exhausted and for a few moments they had simply stared at each other. Ed had tears in his eyes when he told her how sorry he was that he couldn't keep his promise but Winry had surprised him; she still cried but she told him that they were tears of happiness, "The news just kept coming in about the death and destruction left behind after the coup that I though for sure the two of you were dead…I'm just happy you both made it out alive and right now I could care less that the exact promise wasn't kept; you're both alive and that's all that matters to me." Ed knew he should have expected that from Winry, but it surprised him nonetheless. "Wow…well I guess your right. And anyway, who needs flesh limbs when they've got a great automail mechanic like you, right?" Instead of giving him an answer Ed and Winry shared the first of many kisses to come.

In honor of the great mechanical skills of his fiancé, Ed had decided to forever ditch the gloves that had once hidden her handiwork and for today's occasion he had decided to perform a full-maintenance check and polish the arm and leg until they gleamed in the dullest light. Of course, this was nothing compared to how beautiful Winry looked today. She must have washed her hair several times to get every last speck of grease and grime out of it and now it shined. Despite the fact that her dress was simple, she looked like a princess. Much to Pinako's dismay she had kept all her earrings in, a memory of Ed's promise to give them back to her once they met again after the promised day. The moment Ed first saw her walk out of the house he was speechless; she looked beautiful everyday but today…today she looked exceptionally beautiful.

Out of nowhere the judge finally said the line the couple had been waiting for, "You may now kiss the bride." They kissed and applause ensued. Neither of them wanted to stop but they knew that there would be more than enough time for that later, right now there was a party to be attended to. Instead of cake Ed asked Winry if it would be all right if they had an apple pie tower instead. She laughed at the thought, but to his surprise she agreed though she convinced Ed that a tower would look ridiculous and that separate pies would be best. The party lasted well into the wee hours of the night and, for the first time in a long time Ed felt like all the weight on his shoulders had disappeared and he felt sure that most of it would be gone for good.

When they had first announced the engagement everybody told them that it was a long time coming. At first he thought they were mistaken; he had not seen this at all, or so he thought at the time. It had come as a surprise to him that Winry really loved him as more than a close friend and he believed his surprised Winry in the same way. After the wedding was over, though, he realized that they had always been meant for each other and he knew that Winry felt the same as him. Though they had been blind to it, their future…their happy future together was, in fact, a long time coming.


End file.
